


I Think I Saw You In My Sleep (Darling)

by love_stella



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Dreamsharing, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mildy Competitive Kissing, Multi, alternating pov, so much cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-28 01:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15037706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_stella/pseuds/love_stella
Summary: “Am I dreaming,” Alex asks, once they’re all settled on his too-small bed.“Nope, mon petit, we’re really here,” Phil says softly into his shoulder.“And we aren’t leaving,” Jér promises.





	I Think I Saw You In My Sleep (Darling)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aimerai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimerai/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [aimerai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimerai/pseuds/aimerai) in the [PuckingRare2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/PuckingRare2018) collection. 



> IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW IS MENTIONED IN THIS CLICK THE BACK BUTTON RIGHT NOW TO SAVE US ALL SO MUCH EMBARRASSMENT 
> 
>  
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> Dreamsharing AU: up to you whether they randomly end up in the dream of whoever falls asleep first or whether the first one who falls asleep sets up the dream for the other two.  
> Bonus: comfort cuddles in-dream bc all three of them have spent a lot of time injured the last couple of seasons, occasionally at the same time.
> 
> WARNINGS: this story does feature a few injuries (skate cut, concussion, and lower-body injuries) that phil and jer have suffered but nothing graphic, if i missed anything please let me know. 
> 
> Aimee I am sorry this is definitely not what you asked for when you prompted this but whoops.  
> Thanks to Heather, Aimee, Nat, Ali and Ellie for looking this over. i love you all

1 (Alex)

Alex loses sight of Jér behind the goal and doesn’t think anything of it when all he sees is a tangle of limbs with Jér at the bottom. It happens all the time, people fall on top of each other, it’s not that big of a deal. What isn’t normal is the panicked look on the ref’s face, and the way that Timo’s frantically waving his hands to get the trainer’s attention while Jér is face down on the ice clutching his throat like he’s been cut- shit,  _ Jér’s been cut.  _

It takes everything in Alex not to jump over the boards and skate over to Jér or push past the guys on the bench so he can hold Phil’s hand, his pre-game snack is threatening to come back up and he wants to scream, wants to cry, wants to do anything except sit on the bench and watch Jé skate off the ice, shaking his gloves off and pressing the towel to the side of his neck like his life depends on it. Alex is ignoring the voice in his head telling him that  _ it does _ . 

As soon as the horn sounds for intermission, Phil’s dragging him down the tunnel to find Jér  before Coach tells them that Jér’s already been taken to the hospital and the only thing they can do is win the game for Jér. 

The rest of the game goes by in a blur, Alex doesn’t remember tipping in Phil’s shot from the point, doesn’t care about getting the first star, all he wants is to know that Jér’s alright, but no one will tell them anything. Zach’s at the hospital and sends Phil a text saying that Jér’s in surgery but that doesn’t do anything to calm Alex’s shaking hands or stop Phil from crying into Alex’s neck while they wait for Phil’s billet mom to drive them home, insisting that Alex was going to stay with them for the night. 

“You and Phil need each other,” she said, no room for argument in her voice. “And if we get news, it’ll be easier to get to the hospital, our house is closer.” 

Alex falls asleep wrapped around Phil once they’ve cried out all their tears, praying that when they wake up Jér will be out of danger and that they’ll be able to see him. 

 

When Alex opens his eyes, Jér’s walking out of the showers in nothing but a towel; practice must have just ended even though he doesn’t remember it. Come to think of it, the locker room is empty except for the three of them, which is… strange. 

He’s not sure why he does it, but Alex runs over to Jér and peppers his face with kisses, carefully cradling his face in his hands and avoiding touching his neck. 

“Are you alright, mon ange?” Jér asks, but he’s smiling and positively soaking up the affection. 

“I’m fine, I just needed to kiss you, I guess,” Alex says, punctuating it with yet another kiss, this time on the corner of Jér’s mouth. 

“Well thank you,” Jér says. “But I think I should get dressed or Phil might get jealous.”

“Oh I think I’m enjoying the view,” Phil jokes. “Please don’t stop on my account.”

“Or you could come over here and join us,” Jér smirks, the challenge in his voice clear. 

“Please?” Alex pouts, fluttering his lashes and running his fingertips down Jér’s side. 

“Alright, alright,” Phil says, and before Alex can blink he’s wrapping his arms around Alex’s back and smiling against Jér’s mouth. 

Alex goes to kiss the side of Jér’s neck when all of a sudden Jér  jerks back like he’s been hurt, which is weird, surely he’d remember Jér getting hurt during practice. 

“Something wrong?” Alex asks, eyebrows creased in concern and his frown growing when Jér  shakes his head and apologizes for flinching. 

Phil’s stomach grumbles in the middle of the apology, and Alex realizes that he’s starving too.

“We should probably get something to eat,” he says. “The usual place?”

“Only if Jér doesn’t put his feet in my lap this time,” Phil laughs. 

“Fine, Forts’ lap is better anyways,” Jér pouts, and they both kiss the corner of his mouth before letting him get dressed so they can leave. 

Alex blinks and suddenly they’re sitting on the patio at their favorite restaurant, drinks in front of them and the waitress is already bringing them their orders. 

“Hey, you got more rice than I did,” Jér whines, scooping some from Phil’s plate onto his. 

“Dude I eat more than you do what the fuck,” Phil says, scooping the rice Jér stole back onto his plate. 

“You’re both idiots,” Alex laughs. “Jér just take some of mine and leave Phil’s food alone.”

“Ok,” Jér says, doing exactly that but not taking nearly as much as he did from Phil. 

Alex takes advantage of the distraction and puts his feet in Jér’s lap, giggling triumphantly at Jér’s pout when he realizes that he lost this round of footsie before it even started. 

“Forts how could you?” Jér pouts. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about mon cher,” Alex says, looking up through his lashes like he isn’t digging his foot into Jér’s thigh, gently of course. 

“Boys play nice please,” Phil says. “We don’t need to get kicked out because one of you kicked over the table trying to flirt.”

“That was one time!” Jér and Alex shout at the same time, Jér putting his hand to his heart and Alex trying not to laugh at Phil’s faux put-out expression. 

“Yes and that  _ one time _ got us banned from the sushi restaurant by the rink,” Phil reminds them. 

“We said we were sorry,” Jér pouts.

“We still are,” Alex promises. 

“I know, now can we eat?” Phil asks, reaching out and squeezing both of their hands before grabbing a fork and shoving food into his mouth.  _ My god that boy can eat _ , Alex thinks to himself, not that he and Jér are any better. 

They finish their food and Alex doesn’t think twice when Phil goes back to his billet with him while Jér gives them both goodbye kisses before driving the opposite direction. 

 

The next thing Alex knows, his alarm is going off and Phil’s cuddling closer asking for “5 more minutes” and when he remembers that Jér’s still in the hospital Alex shuts his eyes and hopes that when he wakes up Jér will be alright. 

 

2 (Phil)

Phil feels MacDonald’s knee connect with his, feels the white hot pain in his hip so bad he can’t breathe, and before he knows it trainers are helping him off the ice and down the tunnel. He’s glad he doesn’t have to see the looks on Alex and Jér’s faces, has seen each of them hurt on the ice and knows how helpless they must be feeling, but right now he just has to hope Jér doesn’t go after MacDonald and take a stupid penalty. 

Jér and Alex burst into the training room as soon as intermission starts, tripping over each other to see if he’s alright. 

“ Mes amours , I’ll be fine,” Phil says through his teeth. “Don’t worry about me, you’ve got a game to win.”

“ _ We’ve _ got a game to win,” Jér pouts, looking like he wants to be on the medical table with Phil and gripping Alex’s hand so tightly it’s turning white. 

They stay with him until Francis comes to get them, telling them they’ve got to be in the room to hear Coach’s ultra-inspiring speech, and Phil gets to work convincing the trainers to let him sit on the bench until the game’s over. 

“I won’t try to play, I promise, I just…” Phil pleads. 

“Stay in the middle of the bench and don’t move, and you can go,” one of them says. 

“Deal.” 

The game’s up and down, the Knights and Huskies trading chance after chance until before Phil knows it it’s overtime and  Tkachuk’s taking advantage of Chase’s position and firing the puck behind him. It’s over. And Phil just sat there the entire time, watching his team battle without him. 

 

The boys crowd into someone’s room to drink until they don’t feel the pain of the loss, but Phil’s doped up on painkillers so he just goes back to his room and tries to fall asleep, but the ache of his hip and knee makes it impossible until Alex and Jér come back to the room, drunk and giggling until they see Phil on the bed. 

“Mon cher, how are you feeling,” Alex asks. 

“Wanna sleep,” Phil slurs, and before he can blink Jér’s pressed against his back with Alex on his front, and he’s dozing off. 

 

When Phil opens his eyes this time, he’s not in the hotel anymore, he’s back in Rouyn at Alex’s billet, and Jér’s staring at him like he’s been trying to get his attention for a while now.

“Earth to Phil, are you listening?” Jér asks.

“Huh?” Phil asks. 

“What is the name commonly given to the political and social movement that swept Quebec in the beginning of the 1960’s?” Alex asks, and oops, Phil must have zoned out while they were studying. 

“Oh uh, the Quiet Revolution?” Phil asks, he  _ knows _ the answer but he doesn’t remember hearing Alex ask the question even though it Jér’s attitude suggests that he has. 

“Ding ding ding,” Alex says, “that’s right.”

“Wait, don’t we get a prize for correct answers,” Jér smirks. “I swear kisses were part of the deal.”

“Ugh, fine, I guess I’ve got to keep my end of the bargain,” Alex laughs, trying his best to sound put out but failing miserably, before he leans over and quickly kisses Phil. 

“Hello,” Phil laughs against Alex’s lips.

“Hi,” Alex says, and Phil can’t help but scoot closer to him, ignoring Jér’s protests about multiple kisses being unfair when Phil only answered one question. 

“Fine, Jér, name one of the wars in which Canada was invaded by the United States,” Alex asks.

“The Revolutionary War,” Jér shouts, already sitting up and gently pulling Alex into his lap. “Wait, that was too easy. Did you give me an easy one on purpose?”

“No mon cher, I would never do that,” Alex says, fluttering his lashes before quickly shutting Jér  up with a kiss. “Phil, would I ever give Jér an easy question?”

“Hmmm, I don’t think so, but here, give me the book and I’ll ask him something too,” Phil says. 

“Or we could just skip to the kissing, I vote we do that instead,” Jér says. 

“I think that’s cheating, but we could use a study break,” Alex laughs, and the noise he makes when Jér kisses Phil is something Phil could listen to for the rest of his life. 

All of a sudden Phil feels a twinge in his hip, he must have moved the wrong way, and he must give some sort of sign because Alex is pulling away and looking at him with such concern it makes his heart melt. 

“What’s wrong, mon cher?” he asks. 

“I… don’t know. My hip hurts,” Phil says, and when he readjusts himself on the bed his knee aches too, like it got snapped the wrong way. That’s when it hits him, that his knee did get snapped the wrong way, but they weren’t in Rouyn, and they certainly weren’t studying. “How did we get here?”

“Mon beau, what are you talking about? You… drove here. Right?” Jér says, only now he doesn’t seem to convinced. 

“No, I fell asleep in a hotel room, in… Red Deer, you were both there,” Phil says. “MacDonald hit me, I got taken out of the game. Remember?” 

“What? Then how are we here?” Alex asks. “We’re all in my room, right? In the same place?”

“Yes, the stain on the floor from when Jér threw a slushie on a spider is right there,” Phil says. 

“Are we dreaming? Together?” Jér asks. “Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know mon cher,” Alex says. “Maybe? But why?”

“We… we lost? Didn’t we,” Phil asks. “The Mem Cup, the Knights won.”

“Are you saying the universe is trying to make us feel better?” Jér wonders. “That doesn’t happen Phil.”

“He could be right,” Alex says. “Unless you can think of another excuse?”

“No, let’s just finish this chapter and we’ll figure it out later,” Jér says, and Phil decides that he’s probably right, this can wait.

 

When Phil wakes up this time, he’s back in the hotel in Red Deer sandwiched between his boyfriends, Jér’s watching him with half-closed eyes and telling him to “go back to sleep mon beau, we’ve got you.” He does as Jér says, only this time he doesn’t dream. 

 

3 (Alex)

As soon as their game against the Foreurs is over Alex races home to change his red and black jersey to a red and white one. Zach gives him this one, smirking as he hands the jersey to him, and Alex immediately sees why; the little shit thought it would be funny to split numbers so a 6 and 5 would be stitched together with “lauzers” across the shoulders, explaining to Alex that “now they’ve both got your back at the same time.” 

A few of the guys, Math, Antoine, JC, and of course Zach, cram onto the couch in Alex’s billet’s basement to watch the Canada-USA game, and Alex can’t help the fact that his heart skips a beat when he sees Phil and Jér on the ice for warm ups.

He’s trying not to think about how much he misses them or how this is only a fragment of what next season is going to be like, Phil and Jér together while Alex is stuck in another time zone, and is trying to focus on how proud he is that his boyfriends are playing for their country and trying to bring gold medals back to Rouyn, but it’s impossible  _ not _ to miss them. 

Zach keeps shoving Alex’s shoulder whenever Jér or Phil hop over the bench, Math whooping whenever they make a play and JC shouting his head off just because he can, and Alex loses himself watching the way Phil skates around the back of the net to get the puck before it happens: Kunin skates right into him, throwing his hands up and knocking Phil to the ice  _ hard _ . 

Alex stops breathing at the sight of Phil laying on the ice like that, feels Zach grab his hand tight enough that he thinks his fingers will turn white if he doesn’t let go soon but knowing that neither of them are going to let go until they see Phil get up. He does, and Alex takes a watery breath when Phil starts skating off the ice, keeled over and wincing in pain and Alex wishes the camera would turn away from the scene, doesn’t want anyone seeing Phil like this but he also doesn’t know if he could handle not being able to see Phil right now.

After they lose sight of Phil, Math starts screaming, cursing Kunin and the refs and the rest of the Americans, saying Kunin’s lucky he’s in Toronto or he’d be “fucking sorry he ever looked at Phil” and Alex is thinking the exact same thing. 

Without thinking, he texts Jér that he’ll be waiting for them when they both fall asleep that night, even though he has no idea how he’ll actually be able to sleep without the image of Phil face down on the ice haunting him. They’ve never actually talked about it, but after they wound up in the same dream after they lost the Mem Cup, Alex is convinced that they can share dreams. It hasn’t happened since, but he thinks that maybe,  _ just maybe _ , the universe or whatever will bring them together tonight so he can hold Phil and make sure he’s as ok as he can be. 

A couple hours later Alex gets his response from Jér, a bunch of hearts and crying emojis that make his heart ache followed by a “I’ve got him, go to sleep, I love you,” so he does, holding on to the thought that the sooner he falls asleep, the sooner he’ll see Phil and Jér. 

 

When Alex opens his eyes the first thing he sees is Phil’s face inches from his, so close he can feel Phil’s breath on his cheek and Alex’s heart melts at how peaceful he looks right now, like he nothing could ever hurt him and Alex would give anything for that to actually be possible. 

He feels a hand brush his where it’s resting on Phil’s hip, and looks up to see that Jér’s awake, his eyes red and swollen from the tears he’s already shed and looking like he hasn’t slept in days even though Alex  _ knows _ that they’re asleep right now. Alex turns his hand over so he can intertwine their fingers and squeeze Jér’s hand gently, letting him know that Jér’s not alone in this, that Alex is here to help as much as he can. Jér manages a small smile, and Alex tries to return it even though there’s really nothing to smile about right now. Phil’s got a fucking concussion and is going to be out the rest of the tourney if not longer. 

“Oh mon cher, I’m so sorry,” Alex sighs, “I wish I could actually be here with you both.”

“You’re here now,” Jér whispers, trying not to wake Phil. 

“It’s not the same and you know it,” he says. “I can’t  _ do _ anything for either of you.”

Jér hushes him with a finger to his lips when Phil stirs, and  _ shit _ Alex didn’t mean to say that so loud. 

“Hmm,” Phil moans, and the sound breaks Alex’s heart. 

“Hush, go back to sleep mon cher,” Alex whispers into Phil’s curls. “We’ve got you.”

“’re here,” Phil whispers, blinking at Alex and wincing at the soft light coming through the curtains. 

“I am,” Alex whispers back, reaching up to touch Phil’s face. 

“Why’re you here?” 

“I miss you mon cher,” Alex says. “How do you feel?” 

“’y head hurts,” Phil moans. “Why does my head hurt?”

“Don’t worry about that, mon beau,” Jér whispers, stroking Phil’s curls. “Do you want Forts to tell you about Zach’s latest attempt at cooking for Audrey? I’m sure he’s got stories about what we’ve missed.”

Phil nods against Alex’s hand, and Alex can do this,  _ this _ is normal, the three of them chirping Zach and sharing each others’ space. 

“I can do that,” Alex says. “I had to help Zach clear the smoke out of the kitchen when he forgot to add enough water to the pasta he was trying to boil and ended up burning. It was a mess, let me tell you. We had to throw away the pot, the noodles were practically glued to it.”

“That’s my brother,” Jér laughs softly, and they both smile at Phil’s small giggle.

“I left before Audrey came over, but I’ve got a feeling she knew exactly what would happen and probably had backup dinner plans ready,” Alex says, continuing the story until he sees Phil’s eyes start to close, his brain telling him that it’s time for more rest.

“Did that really happen,” Jér asks, once they’re sure Phil’s really asleep.

“No, mon cher, but Phil needed something good to think about,” Alex whispers. “Although I wouldn’t put it past Zach to set the kitchen on fire one day.”

“We love you,” Jér says, carefully leaning over Phil to give Alex a quick kiss. “We’ll be home soon, stay with us until you have to wake up?”

“Always.” 

And he does, until his alarm goes off and pulls him out of the dream and Alex is once again stuck in Rouyn while his boys are in Toronto. 

 

4 (Jér )

Jér doesn’t think that the universe would ever conspire to keep him from Phil and Alex, not with the dreams they get to share, but right now it sure feels that way. First it’s Phil getting sent down the morning the Flyers are supposed to be in Boston and then it’s Alex getting sent down the day before the Blackhawks are in town. At least Jér gets to see Phil, even if they were surrounded by new teammates so they can’t hug quite as tightly as they would have back in Rouyn. 

“Soon,” they promise each other. “We’ll see each other soon.” And Jér clings to that promise as much as he wishes he could cling to Phil. Providence is only a 4 hour drive from Allentown, they can easily see each other if their schedules match up, at least that’s what Jér’s hoping. 

Alex is another story entirely, Jér knows that they won’t get a chance to see each other until Christmas or maybe longer, and his heart aches when he thinks of how the only way he’ll be able to see Alex’s smile is through grainy Skype calls or Snaps. 

It stings even worse when Jér scores his first preseason goal against the Blackhawks; he wants to be proud, thinks he looks it to his teammates but he just feels heartbroken when he looks over at the red jerseys on the bench and doesn’t see Alex where he’s supposed to be. 

When he gets off the ice and checks his phone the first thing he sees are missed calls from his boyfriends, and he knows they left voicemails that probably say how proud of him they are and how it kills both of them to cheer for the Bruins now that Jér’s the only one of them left on an NHL roster, but he won’t let him listen to them until he’s safely back in the hotel he’s staying in until they send him to Providence. 

That call comes the next day, management calls him into an office and tells him to pack his bags and drive down to Providence as soon as he can, training camp is starting and he needs to be there. Jér smiles, thanks them “for the opportunity” and manages to make it to his car before opening his group chat with Phil and Alex and asking if they can Skype later. 

Phil’s calling him before he can read Alex’s reply, telling him he’s proud of Jér and “I’ll make up an excuse to stay in for the night, call when you can mon beau.”

“I love you,” Jér says, and when he feels his phone vibrate against his ear he knows that Alex is calling too. “I gotta go, Forts-”

“Talk to him, I’ll see you both tonight,” Phil says. 

“It’s not the same,” Jér whines, even though he knows Phil knows seeing each other on a laptop screen isn’t the same as being able to hold each other. 

“Say hi to Forts, I love you both,” Phil says before Jér hears the click of Phil hanging up, and Jér gives it a second before answering Alex’s call. 

“Hello mon ange,” Jér tells him, “I miss you.”

“Oh mon cher, I miss you so much,” Alex swears. Jér’s not sure what else they talk about, all he can focus on is Phil’s promise of the three of them talking once he gets to Providence, but he’s smiling when they finally hang up. 

 

Before he knows it, Jér’s staring at his boyfriends through the shitty Skype feed, but it’s the first time he’s seen Alex’s smile since the summer and Phil looking at both of them like he’d give them the world if they asked. Jér doesn’t need to look at the smaller box in the corner to know that his face looks the same, so full of love for both of these boys that he could cry. No one says anything for what feels like an eternity, but the silence is broken when Alex yawns and before Jér knows it he and Phil are yawning too. 

“You know, if we sleep we might be able to be together tonight,” Phil mutters through a series of yawns. 

“It’s worth a shot,” Alex agrees, “Jér?”

“Can we stay on the call until we fall asleep?” he asks.

“Of course,” Alex and Phil say in unison. 

“Then let’s give it a shot,” Jér says, and he moves the laptop so he can comfortably lie down on the bed, and smiles when he sees his boyfriends doing the same. 

“Goodnight mes chers,” Alex tells them, and before he knows it Jér feels himself falling asleep. 

 

When Jér opens his eyes this time, he sees Alex sitting up against the headboard of what Jér knows is Phil’s bed in Moncton, and before he can ask where Phil is Alex is shushing him and telling him that “he’ll be right back, he just went to grab another blanket,” and surely enough Phil’s jumping on the bed and throwing most of his weight on top of Jér before covering his entire face with kisses. 

“Alright, alright, get off me, you’re heavy,” Jér laughs, half-heartedly pushing at Phil’s shoulder before flipping them so now Jér can return the favor and kiss every part of Phil’s face that he can reach. 

“Don’t forget about me,” Alex says, but he’s laughing and petting Jér’s curls, and that’s all the cue Jér needs before climbing off Phil and tackling him into the pillows, peppering his face with kisses too until Alex is a giggling squirming mess. 

Jér rolls off Alex and throws an arm across his chest, and feels Phil crawls up behind him and glues himself to Jér’s back and resting his hand on Jér’s hip on top of Alex’s and Jér would give anything for this to not be a dream. 

“’M sorry about today mon beau,” Phil says into Jér’s curls. 

“It’s fine, I knew it was gonna happen,” Jér says. 

“We’ll show them,” Alex says. “Make ’em see that it was a mistake to send us down.”

“Yeah,” Jér agrees. “Wish we could do it together.”

“Someday, mon cher, we will,” Alex promises.

“Tell me about your days?” Jér asks, he knows that he’d be happy just cuddling quietly with them and knows they would be too, but it’s only been a few weeks and he already misses hearing French terribly. 

He doesn’t realize he’s falling asleep in the dream until he hears the honking of horns outside his hotel room and waking up in an empty bed, but the sight of Phil and Alex sleeping in the Skype windows makes waking up a little easier. 

 

5 (Phil) 

Phil would give anything for this game to be rescheduled, it’s not fair that they’re playing an elimination game on Jér’s birthday but he knows he can’t do anything to help the Bruins extend the series. It’s business, they both know that, but it doesn’t stop his heart from hurting when he drives Jér back to the hotel after they got to spend last night together, promising that they’ll see each other after the game no matter the outcome.

 

Phil’s hoping over the bench as soon as he sees Lamarche shoot the puck behind McIntyre, they’ve done it; the Bruins are going home and the Phantoms are going to the second round. 

He doesn’t let himself look over at where the Bruins are clustered together on the ice, he  _ can’t _ see Jér’s devastated face yet or he’ll do something stupid like start crying, luckily the boys are mobbing Alex still and he forces himself to focus on that until Colin starts telling them to line up for handshakes. 

“It’s not your fault mon beau,” he tells Jér when he reaches him in the handshake line, pulling him into a tight hug and patting him on the back. “Wait for me when you’re done in the room, ok?”

He doesn’t take it personally when Jér doesn’t reply, knows that Jér’s blaming himself for not doing more to keep the puck out of the net, but Phil’s confident that Jér will wait for him.

Surely enough, Jér’s waiting by Phil’s car when he gets out of the room, and judging by the soft smile on his face, he’s talking to Alex on the phone.

“I gotta go mon ange,” he says as Phil walks up to the car. “We’ll see you later yeah? Hello mon beau,” he tells Phil after he hangs up.

Phil doesn’t get a chance to reply before Jér’s pulling him into his arms, wrapping himself around Phil and not letting go until they hear a horn honking and Jér jerks back like he’s been burned.

“It’s alright, it’s just Nic,” Phil whispers, as the car pulls up beside them. 

“I’m gonna crash with Marty,” Nic says. “If you break anything Lauzon, you’re paying for it. Don’t have too much fun.” And with that, he’s gone and Jér’s staring at Phil like a deer in the headlights.

“He won’t say anything Jér, I promise,” Phil tells him. “Besides, he’s probably just being a dick and doesn’t actually know anything.”

“If you say so,” Jér says. “Can we get out of here, please?”

“Of course,” and Phil has to kiss him before unlocking the car so they can head back to his apartment.

 

“Happy birthday mon beau, I love you so much,” Phil says once they’re tangled up in each other on his bed. 

“I love you too, I’m sorry you didn’t get to celebrate with your team,” Jér replies against Phil’s neck.

“Hush, you’re so much more important to me,” Phil says. “Let’s sleep and hopefully Forts will be there when we open our eyes.”

 

“Happy birthday mon cher,” Alex says, smiling into Jér’s neck as they cling to each other before he looks over his shoulder at Phil. “Come here Phil, please?”

Phil doesn’t know why he’s afraid to come closer, the traitorous part of his brain telling him that Jér resents him for ending his season even though that’s not for here, not while the three of them are together. He caves when Alex starts to pull away from Jér and goes over to them, wrapping his arms around Jér and resting his chin on top of his head, letting Alex sway them gently as they breathe each other in. 

“I’ve got a surprise for you,” Alex says after what feels like an eternity later. 

“This wasn’t the surprise?” Jér asks. 

“Nope, c’mon, it’s in the kitchen.”

Alex takes both their hands and leads them into the kitchen, and Phil stops himself dead in his tracks when he sees that the counters are covered in baking materials, Phil has no idea what’s going on but the look on Alex’s face is positively beaming and he knows that he’ll do whatever he needs to to make sure that look stays on his face. 

“We’re going to make you a cake,” Alex explains. “We can’t have a party without a cake, can we?”

“Mon petit, do you even know how to make a cake,” Phil asks, thumbing through the cookbook that’s next to the eggs. 

“We’ll figure it out, that’s half the fun, mon cher,” Alex pouts, and if Jér didn’t beat him to it, Phil would be the one kissing the pout of his mouth. 

Alex gently slaps Jér’s hand when he starts messing with the flour and tells him “I don’t think so, you can sit over there and watch, you’re not doing any of the work.” 

“You just don’t want him burning down the kitchen,” Phil says, hiding his smile behind the cookbook. 

“Hush, mon cher,” Alex says before Jér can protest. “Just sit there and look pretty and maybe we’ll let you lick the bowl when we’re done.” 

“Only if you lick the spoons,” Jér smirks, and Phil is very much behind that idea. 

“We’ll see,” Alex promises. “Now let’s get started. Phil?”

“Ready when you are,” he says. 

They get started measuring sugar and flour, cracking eggs -normal cake making stuff- and it all goes well until Phil decides to put the butter in the microwave to soften it and they end up with a puddle of melted butter. 

“It’s fine, just… we’ll scoop it into the bowl and make it work,” Alex tells him before he turns on the mixer. He’s clearly not expecting it to come on that strongly, judging by the cake batter his face is now speckled with.

“Come here mon ange,” Jér says, grabbing a napkin and pulling Alex onto his lap when he comes over and wiping the mess of his face until Alex is giggling into his mouth. 

Phil takes advantage of his boyfriends being distracted by each other and finishes mixing the cake and pouring it into a pan so it can go into the oven. 

“Ok mes amours, it’s cooking,” Phil says before taking the batter he’s scooped out of the bowl with his finger and dragging it down the side of Jér’s face. 

“Hey what the fuck,” Jér laughs, rubbing his cheek on Alex’s forehead so they’re both covered in batter. 

Alex sputters and falls off Jér’s lap, pulling Phil down onto the floor with him and flipping them so Phil’s pinned under him before he wipes some of the batter of his face and rubs in on Phil’s lip, and Phil gets to watch Alex’s eyes get stuck on his mouth when Phil licks it off. 

Before either of them notice, Jér’s on the floor with them, leaning over Phil to lick invisible batter off his mouth “just in case you missed anything mon beau,” before they start cleaning each other up with a combination of shirt sleeves and tongues. 

“At least we don’t have to worry about burning the cake,” Phil laughs, because he knows there’s no way they’re getting up right now, Jér looks like he’s going to fall asleep from where he’s lying underneath Alex and Phil’s too comfy resting his head on Alex’s shoulder to move when the timer goes off. 

They don’t actually get to eat the cake, Phil’s alarm goes off before the timer does, but  _ it’s ok _ , he thinks to himself, _ we’ll get to eat cake soon _ . 

 

+1 (Alex)

Alex is trying not to think about how Phil and Jér haven’t said anything about the three of them getting together now that they’re home for the summer, and he’s definitely not thinking about how they haven’t shared a dream since Jér’s season ended. 

When Fred asks if he wants to go off-roading, Alex doesn’t hesitate to say yes, staring at his phone all day waiting for a text from his boyfriends isn’t helping and besides, he misses spending time with his baby brother, so he grabs his keys and follows Fred’s car to a new spot he found earlier. 

That’s a giant mistake: as soon as they get past the trees, Alex feels his Jeep stop moving, he’s fucking stuck, and when he tries to move the car forward it just sinks deeper into the mud. When he looks out the window he sees Fred safely out of the mud and laughing his ass off with his fucking phone pointed in Alex’s direction while his tires spin and spew _so much mud_ _is it supposed to be reaching the roof_. 

Nic’s nice enough to try to use his truck to pull Alex’s jeep out, they’ve got a rope and hook it between the cars and it works until the truck gets stuck in the mud too. For some reason Alex decides the best thing to do is post a few pictures to his Instagram, at least other people can laugh at his misery and it _ is _ funny. 

They finally call a tow truck, but the truck that shows up isn’t from the company they called, it’s just a… big truck. 

“Looks like you could use some help boys,” a voice says, and if Alex didn’t know any better he’d think that it was Phil’s voice. That’s not possible, Phil’s in Moncton with his family, he’s got no reason to be in Blainville,  _ right?  _

“Aww look mon beau, he’s so cute when he’s confused,” another voice says, and Alex  _ knows  _ that it’s Jér, because  _ Jér  _ just got out of the truck. 

“Hush, he always looks cute,” Phil says as  _ he _ climbs out of the truck. 

“Hmm that’s true,” Jér agrees, walking over to Alex and wrapping him in a tight hug, not caring about the mud he’s now covered in. “I missed you mon ange.”

“What are you doing here,” Alex asks, burying his face in Jér’s neck and breathing him in.

“We wanted to see you,” Phil says from behind Alex as he wraps his arms around them. 

“Jér, I thought you were going fishing with Zach this weekend,” Alex says. “And Phil, I thought you had plans to go on vacation with your parents.”

“It’s called a surprise mon petit,” Phil says, rubbing his chin against the top of Alex’s head. “Please close your mouth you’re going to swallow mosquitoes.”

“I just-” Alex starts, before Jér cuts him off with a kiss. 

“Did you think we didn’t want to see you,” Jér says against his lips. 

“I dunno, you just, didn’t say anything about it,” Alex whispers. “You’re both busy, it’s fine.”

“Oh Forts, we always want to see you,” Phil says. “We’re sorry we didn’t tell you we were coming, we really did want it to be a surprise.”

“You’re not mad, are you?” Jér asks, and he sounds so worried that Alex can’t help but kiss the frown off his face. 

“No, of course I’m not mad mon cher,” he says, turning around to kiss Phil as well. “I’m so, so happy right now.”

“Ok sorry to interrupt the lovefest but can we get our cars out of the mud before the sun comes up,” Fred says, and as much as Alex would like to ignore his brother he’s probably right. 

“That’s probably a good idea,” Alex says, but he might as well kiss his boyfriends one more time before they get to work pulling the cars out of the mud. 

“I will strangle you with this rope if you don’t fucking stop,” Fred yells before hooking it up to Nic’s truck and honking the horn until Phil gets into the rented truck and starts pulling their cars out of the mud. 

It’s a miracle that the truck doesn’t get stuck, but before they know it Alex’s jeep and Nic’s truck are safely out of the mud and they can head back home. 

“Hey Fred, drive my car home,” Alex says, tossing him the keys. “I’ve got a ride.”

“Gross,” is all Fred says, but he’s getting into the Jeep and only mildly rolling his eyes in their direction. 

Alex is half-tempted to just sit on Jér’s lap the entire drive back to his house, but getting pulled over seems like a waste of their visit so he settles for cramming between them and resting his head on Phil’s shoulder and his hand on Jér’s knee. 

Jér spends the drive catching them up with his adventures in Val-d’Or, mostly talking about how Math’s doing and Zach’s latest attempt at actually playing basketball, and Alex and Phil are happy just listening to him talk, only adding “hmms” and laughing at the appropriate times. 

 

It’s not until they get back to Alex’s house that he realizes how exhausted he is, not that Phil and Jér look any better, Jér’s yawning and Phil keeps wiping at his eyes as if that will help him stay awake. 

“Come on, time for bed,” Alex says without stopping to think that his boyfriends might not have sleep clothes. 

“Shit, we forgot our stuff in the car,” Phil says, already pouting at Jér like fluttering his eyelashes will make Jér go out into the cold and grab their bags. 

“Oh, don’t trip over yourself trying to go out to the car, I’ll go,” Jér laughs. 

“You’ll get kisses when you come back,” Alex promises, and with that, Jér’s gone and back before Alex has time to change into his pajamas. 

“Hmm, that’s entirely too many clothes for cuddling with your boyfriends,” Jér says. “You’re going to be hot in that shirt, Phil, shouldn’t he take it off?”

“Mon beau, Forts can wear whatever he wants to bed,” Phil explains, but Alex is already pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it at Jér’s head. 

“Am I dreaming,” Alex asks, once they’re all settled on his too-small bed. 

“Nope, mon petit, we’re really here,” Phil says softly into his shoulder. 

“And we aren’t leaving,” Jér promises. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> the incident in the +1 is courtesy of alex's insta story from a while back he's a disaster
> 
>  
> 
> i'm aIexfortins on twitter (the l is a capital i) and gauthboy on tumblr if you want to cry about these boys


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